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Bison standout lineman headed to Coyote country
One of the most outstanding linemen in recent McCook High School football history is taking his talents to the Division I level next fall.
Derek Chancellor signed a letter of intent to join the University of South Dakota football program. Chancellor inked his scholarship papers in ceremonies Wednesday, Feb. 2, at the McCook High School gym.
Chancellor is perhaps the biggest Bison ever to roam Weiland Field. The 6-foot-6 senior played at about 290 pounds last fall as he earned Class B all-state and second team Super State honors in his 2010 senior season. Derek wore a smile Wednesday morning when he was asked how much he weighs now.
"I weighed in (Feb. 1) at 300.5 pounds -- that was the first time I broke 300," he said.
Derek is the son of Ken and Rose Chancellor of McCook. He had plenty of choices to fulfill his dream of playing college football, including a preferred walk-on spot with the beloved Huskers in Lincoln. Nebraska didn't offer a scholarship, although he likely could have earned one in Lincoln in the future.
"I got interest from (Division I-A) Ohio and Wyoming, and Tulane had called me a couple of times, but Tulane had offered a kid from Omaha and he accepted about a month or so ago," Derek said. "I got offers from Division I North Dakota and South Dakota State and South Dakota, and Nebraska recruited me as a preferred walk-on. Preferred just means that I would have been part of the team and would have been on the sideline with them and practiced with the team all the time. But for as hard as I have worked, I just really wanted to go for a scholarship, and I thought I deserved a scholarship, so I decided to go to South Dakota.
"The location is really great. Of the three division I schools that offered me, the location was the best, and the schedule is really good. Next year they play Wisconsin and Air Force. Their academics are really good and their facilities are really nice."
Indoor football stadium
The South Dakota campus is located in Vermillion, in the extreme southwest corner of the state about halfway between Sioux City and Yankton, and about a six-hour drive from McCook. After a redshirt year next fall, Chancellor hopes to enjoy four years of playing for the Coyotes in the Dakota Dome, USD's indoor stadium that seats about 10,000 fans for football.
NCAA Division I football -- the Football Championship Series -- is a step below the big-time Bowl Championship Series programs like Nebraska, and a notch above Division II programs such as the University of Nebraska-Kearney and Chadron State.
McCook head football coach Jeff Gross said the main difference between the BCS programs like Nebraska, Kansas State, etc. and the smaller FCS and Division II programs are scholarships. Gross said BCS level programs can offer 85 full-ride scholarships per year, while the FCS level programs can offer just 65 full rides. Of course, the smaller schools play in a little smaller venues like the 10,000-seat Dakota Dome. Gross said Division II schools like UNK and Chadron can only offer 36 to 26 scholarships for football, depending on conference limitations, and some are partial scholarships.
South Dakota is scheduled to visit the Air Force Academy to face the Falcons Sept. 3, with a trip to Big Ten power Wisconsin set for Sept. 24.
A great opportunity
McCook head football coach Jeff Gross said the South Dakota scholarship is a great opportunity for Derek.
"As a boy in Nebraska, obviously his dream was to play at Nebraska, and they recruited him legitimately over the course of the last two years,," Gross said. "He got to go to every (home) game last fall, and witness and do all that. In the end (Nebraska) just felt like they had a couple more lineman they wanted to offer than him. They were very honest, up-front all the way, and said if (a NU football scholarship) opened up late, he'd get it. But that wasn't in the cards.
"South Dakota is a place that he's been going to camp for a couple years and looking at seriously. North Dakota came in with an offer, and then South Dakota State, and then Northwest Missouri and Kearney and Nebraska-Omaha and Fort Hays. Just the level of scholarship, the level of football and academically, he wants to be a history major and South Dakota has probably one of the top (programs) in that department. He felt like it was the right fit for him."
Chancellor plans to major in history at South Dakota, with a minor in political science. Coach Gross said Derek is the first McCook player to join the South Dakota football program.
Among McCook's best
Coach Gross was asked to compare Chancellor to past great McCook High School football linemen.
"As far as offensive linemen, size and strength-wise, he's number one," Gross said. "We've had some great kids come through here that maybe were his equal or better offensive linemen as far as technique and things, but we've never had a 6-6, 290 kid come through, and that's what colleges look for.
"As far as what he's meant to his program in the last two years, this last year, I said all along the offensive line is what was going to dictate whether we won or lost. It even got to the point last year where we flip-flopped Derek to whatever side we were running the ball. We held no secret about it. If we're going right, Derek's on the right side, if we're going left, he's on the left. When we were passing, he's protecting our blind side. You don't do that with a kid unless he's special, and Derek has been a special player for us for two years."
Gross said Carl Shaddock (2004) and Nate Riecks (2002) were perhaps two of the top linemen in Bison football history.
"Those guys were undersized compared to Derek," he said. "This is a huge honor for Derek to accept a scholarship as an offensive lineman. McCook is kind of known for speed and athletes, not its offensive linemen."
Chancellor said his experiences playing for McCook won't be forgotten, and those experiences have prepared him well for the next step in his football career.
"I just had a lot of fun out there," Derek said of his high school days. "The high expectations in McCook, of course, are second to none. We have a really great tradition around here. I'll never forget the experiences I had out there on the field with this group of guys.
"This program's is really good. The coaches are the best. I couldn't have prepared myself better than at McCook."